Safety razor



May 20 '1924.

M. cRouei-l SAFETY RAZOR Filed May 24 4 Qwwwwtoz Mwizael drwg Patented May 20, 1924.

MICHAEL CROUGH, or ri -Ion, NEW YORK.

SAFETY RAZOR.

Application filed May 24, 1923. Serial No. 641,123.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'MICHAEL CRoUGH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ilion, in the county of Herkimer and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Razors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in safety razors, and one object of the invention is to provide a razor of this type which is of simple construction, inexpensive of manufacture, of general maximum efficiency in use, and capable of being readily and conveniently cleansed and maintained in a sanitary condition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a razor which admits of the use of blades which may be rehoned from time to time until the blades are worn out. 4

Still another object of the invention is to provide a razor which admits of the use of a blade of narrow width of depth and which is so supported as to admit shaving of the upper lip or other angular portions of the face in a ready and convenient manner without interference from the nose or other portions of the face.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a razor having opposed angularly related blade supporting portions, adapted to hold a pair of opposed or oppositely projecting blades, so that the user, by merely reversing the razor, may use one blade for coarse shavingand theother blade for close shaving, or, in case of the dulling of one blade, may'rev'erse the razor to allow the other blade to be used.

Still another'object of the invention is to provide simple, reliable and efficient means for holding and clamping the blades in position for use.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a safety razor constructed in accordance with my invention. v a I -Figure 2 is a central vertical transverse section through the same. 1

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 33 of Figure 2.

handle 1 having at one end a milled grip portion 2 and having its other end 3 square to form a plane abutting surface, said end 3 being formed with socket 4. 7

The end 3 is designed to support a double comb plate 5, which is substantially V- shaped in cross-section so as to provide the oppositely disposed. or projecting blade supporting portions 6 joined at their inner edges an intermediate connectingportion7. The blade supporting portions 6 are designed to extend outwardly at oblique angles beyond opposite sides of the handle land the straight transverse connecting portion 7 is designed to rest upon the square shoulder 3 ofthe handle and is formed at a'central point with an opening 8 for passage of a fastening screw 9, which screw enters the threaded socket of the handle and fastens, the comb plate in position thereon. Each blade supporting portion 6 is slotted at its outer longitudinal edge to provide the comb teeth 10 having the downwardly bent guard portions 11, and each supporting portion 6 is also provided along its end edgeswith inturned flanges 12 spaced from the upper surface of the body of the plate to form the blade retaining grooves 13.

an internally threaded The blade supporting portion 6 may be made of comparatively narrow width to sup-' port comparatively narrow" blades 14. These blades 14 may be of standard length,

and each is provided with one longitudinal 5 yond theouter edge of the supporting portion 6 and over the comb teeth 10 and the spaces therebetween to properly dispose such cutting edge for a shaving action iand'for a safety guarding action in the well known way. I v V The comparatively narrow blade supporting portion 6 and the blades 141 supported thereby project beyond opposite sides of the handle 1, each, at a downward and outward angle,-the blade supporting portions 6 and the blades carried thereby thus forming oppositely disposed or projecting cutting surfaces arranged at relatively downward and outward converging angles. Each blade is designed to be slidably fitted in position in the groove 6, and slidably removed therefrom, via the upper ends of said grooves, the groove formingfianges 12 of the respective blade supporting portion 6 being cut away along the line of the cutting portion 7 to provide entrance ways for such purpose. In order to prevent forward displacement of the blades and. to limit their forward movement in working position and engaged relation to the comb portions 10. the-outer or forward ends of each pair of flanges 12 are bent downwardly as at 16,. to close the forward ends of the grooves and to form stops against which the ends of the cutting edge of the blademay. bear when the blade is disposed in working position. These stops '16 are preferably bent downwardly .on-

curved line to form auxiliary guards designed to ride smoothly in contact. with the face in the operation of shaving; ltwillbe observed that the angular relationship of the blade supporting portion'16 permits of the ready-insertion and removal of a blade to or from the receiving groovesof one blade supporting portion without interference from a blade fitted in the retaining grooves. of the other blade supporting portion. I r I For the purpose of firmly clamping the blades. in position against recession or other -movement, a spring metaltc-lamping plate 17 'is provided. This plate comprises a pair of blade clamping members 18 to engage the respective blades, and a connecting portion or bridge piece 19 joining said members 18.- Along its medial transverse line the plate 17 is V-shaped-to dispose the mem- -bersi18 to conform toxthe arrangements of the blades'when applied for use, and at. its apexthebri'dge'piece 19- is formedwith an opening, receiving the head portion 20 of the fastening screw 9, which head portion 7 of the screw 18 riveted or otherwise fixed thereto, the screw and clamping plate thus forming a 'fastening'unit cooperating with the handle 1 for. detachably connecting the parts of the razor together. 1 i I Whenthe plate 17;is applied the-members 18. thereof overlie the outer portions of the blades 14 and bear at their ends against the inner edges of the-flanges 12, while theconnecting portion or; bridge 19 extends over the connectinguportion 7 of the comb" plate, the screw 9 extending downwardly'therefrom through the opening 8 in the comb plate andinto-the socket 4 of the-handle 1,

the cutting edges 15 of the latter, while beyond that point toward the bridge or connecting plate 19- the rear portions of members 18 will be elevated relatively to portions 21 and. spaced from the-blades and will be connected bv the resilient bridge piece19, from which-it will be understood that theblades will be firmly clamped atv the points where. working pressures fall upon them while the spaced arrangement of the parts referred to allows a resilient mo tion for a spring clampingactiom so that through the adjustable connection between the handle 1 and screw 9. the clamping-plate may be drawn down as tightly as desired. to clamp the blades as-firmly as desired against the comb plate. -The outer surfaces of the edges 21 of the bladeclamping portions 18 of the clamping plate are beveled, as at 22, if

in conformity with the bevel of thecutting edges 15 of'th'e .blades,,so'that a, smooth rid ing action of the parts of the razor over the face of the user in the operation of shaving I will be ensured. I

In the operation of assembling the, parts,

it will be understoodthat the comb plate is fitted in position uponthe handle with the blades fitted in the grooves thereof, after which the clamping plate: is placed over. the

blades and the fastening screw Qinserted downward through the opening 8 and the handle 1 then applied and turned-upon the screw, thus rigidly fixing the. parts together and drawing the clamping plate downward by its spring action so that the parts thereof will clamp theeblades firmly in position.

The modeof disassembling the partsiwill be apparent from the.foregoing description,

and it will thus be. the construction is such as to permit of the ready. and conveniently :disas'sem blage of the parts for packing. or other purposes,- and for the insertion and removal of blades, as well as the: cleaning of the blades, the construction deseribed adapting the razor to be easily and conveniently cleanedand kept. in a thoroughly sanitary condition. In practice, theblades, and the blades 1.

supportingportions of the comb plate, are preferably made, as I previously stated, coin paratively narrow-and, by reason ofthis factyand alsoby reason of the factthat the opposed blades and blade-supporting; portions extend at an angle to each other, it will be appa-rent that either blad'e of the razor may be employed for shaving the upper lip understood that i close to the nose and forf'shaving other-an gular portions of the face, since in such operation the inactive blade and its support ing parts will lie at an angle out of the way of the nose or other interferring portions of the face, permitting the Working blade to be operated closely to all such obstruct-ions. Also it will be understood that by the use of two opposed blades, arranged as described, one blade may be employed for coarse shaving and the razor reversed and" the other blade used for close shaving, or, in case one blade is found to be rather dull for use, the operator may reverse the razor and use the sharper blade; As the blades are adjustable towards the comb portion of the comb plate in their guideways, it will be understood that they may be moved up to an accurate working position, and in practice the guideivays may be such as to allow slight play of the blade so that, in the event that the cutting edge thereof is not sharpened in accurate alinement throughout its entire length, the blade may be set at a slight an gle to compensate for this defect. As the blade is freely adjustable when the clamping plate is loosened to working position, it

will be understood that it may be continuously honed or sharpened and repeatedly reused until worn out, thus avoiding the necessity of frequently discarding blades and the waste and expense incident thereto. For the purpose of sharpening the blades a holder of suitable character may be employed, such as that disclosedin my pending application, Serial No. 636,453, filed May 3. 1923. Other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the foregoing descrip- Mon.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim A safety razor comprising a handle, a V- shaped comb plate having a central vertex portion to rest upon one end of the handle and oppositely disposed obliquely arranged blade supporting portions at diametrically opposite sides of the handle, each of said blade supporting portions having an outer comb edge, upstanding flanges at the side edges of said portions each having blade retaining grooves closed at their outer ends open at their inner ends, blades adapted to rest upon said blade supporting portions and to slidably engage said grooves at their end edges, a V-shaped resilient clamping member for holding said blades in position, said clamping member comprising plates of a length to snugly fit at their ends against said flanges, the outer faces of said member being in the same plane with the outer faces of said flanges and the main portions of the undersurfaces of said plates normally lying out of contact with the blades and said plates having depressed outer edges bearing on the blades, a bridge piece extending over the vertex portion of the comb plate and connecting'said plates, and a fastening and ad j usting connection carried by the handle and extending through the vertex of the comb plate and engaging the bridge piece whereby the parts are held assembled, said connection being adjustable to bow or flex said bridge piece so as to cause the resilient body portions of the plates to move toward or from the blades.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

MIC AEL CROUGH. 

